Council Interference
by RisingWinter
Summary: In a time of growing uncertainty, Noah works with those key spirits involved in the war against Bhunivelze and finds unexpected help. Bridge between Life Extension and Gale Force.


Noah strode through halls of shimmering, empty crystal. Through the image of glass, stars and planets twinkled in the distance and it smelled of cold emptiness despite a certain warmth that hung about the translucent palace. If he ever went to see Giruvegan, maybe it would bear a certain resemblance to this place.

Eventually he came to the space where the crystal gave way to a starlit, empty space and he stepped off the hall. No gravity met him, and he floated into the center of the space. Lights twinkled in the distance and a blue fog rolled away at his entrance.

A soul winked into existence beside him. Scott, in his spotless armor and typical, charismatic demeanor, rested in the air. "You took your time getting back, friend."

Noah dipped his head. "I found myself distracted. My apologies."

Braska appeared beside Scott. "We won't hold it against you. What news from Gaia VII?"

"More world travelers." Noah shook his head. "They gather in number and there's little I can think of to deter them."

"You're not the only one," Scott said. "There's a new Lunar Whale, developed by former world-savers. For all the good they do, it seems they like to cause us the most grief."

"Can we blame them?" Braska asked. "Once they know what exists beyond their homes, it's hard not to go out and see them. I imagine you wouldn't have done much differently."

Scott scowled. "I would have known better than to go meddling in the affairs of other worlds."

"No matter their motivation," Noah said, "we cannot ignore the stress placed upon the interdimensional pathways. If we don't address it soon-"

Braska waved a hand. "You said yourself there's little we can do to deter them, and we have larger issues to worry about. Like the fact that Mwynn's pawns have collected about half of their force, now. The rest are still out there, but that hardly limits the children's capabilities."

"I don't see what's so important about those people," Scott said. "Why should we worry what strays Mwynn takes in? She doesn't seem to care about destabilizing or numbers like Bhunivelze does. For all we know, they don't even realize the other exists."

"I would hesitate to jump to such a conclusion," Noah said. "But we should communicate with the others."

"As summoned!" That fairy king from Blue Terra popped into existence. "What fun have I missed?"

Scott groaned. "What are you doing here? You're far off your timeline."

Luneth – sometimes known as "Simba" – huffed and folded his arms. "Don't the worlds all need their representatives? I learned how to break the rules specifically for your sake."

Aerith faded into view. "I heard you."

"Sorry about my absence." Aria took her position near Simba. "My temple has been quite distracted lately."

Noah blinked. "What of the rest?"

"They're coming." Lunafreya, Oracle and Representative of Eos, coalesced in a majestic flow of white and smoothed her dress. "There's been a disturbance near the gate between our realm and hell."

"Concerning," said Braska. "I suppose we might not hear from Yunalesca, then."

"What would she know that you wouldn't?" Aria asked. "I thought you both connected to Spira."

"Connected, yes," said Braska. "But Yunalesca has bound herself to the Farplane and serves as its emissary and therefore as Spira's designated representative. I only watch the living, and even Minwu would know more on that than myself."

"Where have you redirected your attentions?" Noah asked.

Braska hummed. "Mostly around Gaia V and Eos. There's a corrupted presence that hangs about those worlds and I would like to see where it leads. If I can find any advantage against our adversaries, I would rest much better."

"We didn't come here to rest." Nora from Cocoon stepped in. "Kind of signed off on that when you joined the Council, right?"

Braska offered her a welcoming smile. "Of course."

Lunafreya gripped her staff closer. "I can confirm the presence you mentioned. It appears Bhunivelze has invaded my planet Himself and taken one of my old friends and scattered the others. His numbers don't grow rapidly, but he's killed too many for me to allow him to escape unpunished. Those who don't fall under his spell die too awfully for me to repeat."

"Don't get me started," Aerith said. "That beast doesn't deserve the title of 'God.'"

"Yet here we stand." Aria spread her arms and fog filled the space between. "We face Him and His and we can only rely on our world saviors and the Red Gods for help." The fog turned red and flashes of summon silhouettes showed through.

"The Red Gods," hissed Scott. "What have we to gain from those meddling children, even if we trusted them on our side?"

Aria cast him a measured look. "Too much to dismiss them out of hand. I can confirm their loyalties to be outside of Bhunivelze's realm, but I know I can't convince you all."

"Not enough," said Braska, "though I'll take your word as reassurance."

"A small comfort." Aria manipulated the fog to turn green and empty of silhouettes. "But shouldn't we consider teaching those on our worlds to prepare for the oncoming storm?"

"We could never amass the numbers in time," said Scott. "What about our influence as it stands? Wasn't this the very reason we sent out our own to communicate with the living in the first place? Training would take time, but we can influence certain elements and cause a chain reaction with deliberate attention."

Lunafreya hummed. "I shouldn't think numbers necessary. Bhunivelze lost too much of his cognitive capabilities to remain such a threat for some time and we can thank that recklessness for the blunt force of an army."

"Fair point." Luneth crossed his legs and floated in space. "We can one-up this guy if we put our minds to it. Given he, you know, doesn't really have one right now."

"But he will again soon." Aerith looked around them. "We should hurry."

Aria said, "I mean, he's hurt and hiding. Should we give chase and wear him down?"

Nora shook her head. "This bastard's too fast for us. He moves faster than we can track and we'll find ourselves running in circles faster than you can sneeze."

"Let's be honest," Scott said. "What are our chances?"

Quiet fell, thick and uncomfortable. Noah withdrew a pace. "Not impressive, perhaps, but we're not entirely out of favor."

"We have the influence of world champions," Aerith said. "I think we stand a pretty good chance given how things tend to warp to these people's will."

Braska shook his head. "We should focus on communicating with former vessels. They'll know more than we do."

"But until then-" Luneth leaned forward- "Can we throw some obstacles in this guy's way?"

They were interrupted by a distant thud, following by crackling. Light broke for a moment, like flare bugs buzzed in swarms about them. Noah saw found the reason why.

Mateus, from Gaia II and former tyrant, floated into their midst and propped himself up in a cross-legged position. "Such mindless nonsense. When will you see the real problem here?"

Ultimecia joined him in a burst of dark and warped space. "You waste your time to expect so much of these white mages."

Noah looked to Scott, whose face hardened. "You don't belong here."

"No, we've earned a better place." Mateus waved a hand. "Let's skip the usual insults and get right to the point. We have a problem and came to get it fixed."

"To work together," Ultimecia said in the coolest tone.

"Yes." Mateus blinked lazy eyes. "Insulting though it may be."

Aria stepped toward them, bare feet hazy through the starfog. "I think our purpose may be enough to overcome our differences. I am willing to consider an alliance." She looked to the rest of the council. "Does anyone consider differently?"

Braska narrowed his eyes. "You're also disturbed by the God of Light?"

"Yes." Ultimecia placed a hand on her hip. "Honestly, I thought it obvious. Our realm doesn't exactly benefit from being taken over by a mad god."

"Or any god." Mateus leaned back against nothing. "The balance affects us all, you know."

"We do." Noah took a step toward them. "I would accept this alliance."

"Aren't we being a little hasty?" Scott bit out. "How do we know that Bhunivelze hasn't gone and taken over hell? This could be a trap."

"Smart." Ultimecia looked his way. "I like you."

Scott grimaced. "I'll pretend that's flattering. But I can't believe we would be so quick to walk into your arms because of a quick plea for help."

Mateus waved a hand. "As entertaining as such a gambit may be, we all know what we're up against, and Bhunivelze hasn't displayed any interest in dead souls. Quite the feat when he can't even see us."

"He…" Aerith blinked. "He can't?"

Mateus rolled his eyes. "Rather a distracted bunch, aren't you? If you paid any attention to that fiasco in Nova Chrysallia, they made rather a point about that. We have no physical bodies for him to use, so we're in rather a sweet spot."

Aria faded back into existence – Noah didn't notice her go. "I've confirmed what he says. We have nothing to fear from him here."

"Maybe not now," said Braska. "But should he enact his full plan, the effects would eventually ripple our way and all of creation would be overturned to his work of puppetry."

"Well, well." Ultimecia floated into a kneeling position. "Let's not waste any more time, then."

Luneth said, "Back to the obstacle idea, my friends erected a pretty awesome group and-"

"Wait!" Aria put out her hands and gestured to Luneth. "You've seen this all before! Don't you know what happens?"

He waved a dismissive hand. "Time is more of a prick than that. I pulled some strings to get here as I am and those strings included fudging my memories. Anyway, so we should call on my friends. I think they can help."

A collective groan echoed through the gathered party.

"Not travelers," said Braska. "Haven't we had enough of them?"

"Perhaps it's time we opened communication," Lunafreya said. "We cannot expect fair behavior from those with whom we won't even associate."

Scott let out a long sigh. "A fair point. Can't say I ever expected to compromise such integrity, though."

"Oh, please," said Mateus. "You all want to see your friends again and there's no point in hiding it."

Luneth flipped to his feet. "At least we have some!"

"I believe our definitions differ." Ultimecia shook her head. "But alas. Let's quit the banter and get to work."

Murmured agreements and Noah closed his eyes.

Time to return to the living once more.


End file.
